Wednesday, August 8, 2012

L.A. hipsters JJAMZ featuring Z Berg formerly of The Like strutted through Vegas for their first neon desert debut on Monday. The band was in excellent form, addressing the audience and getting them dancing to their Blondie-esque jams. Z is like watching Debbie Harry in her prime during their Parallel Lines era, she commands your attention, while not overplaying her charm.Hearing the band live will only make you want to pay closer attention to the record, as I found myselfdoing afterward. Highlights include "Suicide Pact" and "LAX."

Sunday, July 1, 2012

I love reading rock ‘n roll autobiographies. But with the flood of them in the marketplace now, hearing about drugs and debauchery all over again and again almost seems like the same story, just a different storyteller. Dee Snider's memoir Shut Up And Give Me The Mic steers clear of that. As drinking & druggin’ wasn’t part of his lifestyle, you won't find here the tales of drug abuse that so many of his peers repeatedly write about. In fact, in the very opening it's pretty apparent that he takes a swipe assumingly at a particular Motley member by asking if the reader has ever known a junkie, questioning how they kept a journal and going on to say "real heroin addicts can't hold their own dicks, forget about a pen or pencil."

It’s the story of a struggle, sticking to what you do best, not giving up, realising your dream, making it big, and losing it all, and then reinventing yourself.

Dee has no problem telling you how big his ego inflated, which resulted in driving a wedge between him and his Twisted Sister band mates. As a larger than life character and leader of the pack, its not hard to see why only the spotlight shone on Dee. Who else in the band could generate that attention, Eddie Ojeda? I think not. Or as Dee puts it best when he says “not one fan gives a shit about the other eleven members...and out of the five that count, only one is being paid to write about his life, and it ain’t Jay Jay.” Haha, well said Dee. Check fucking mate.

You wanna know about the corruption of the music business in ways you only imagine? Dee justifyably goes into great detail about this, how the presidents at the major labels pratically hated Metal music, and quickly turn two-faced when Twisted actually made them money of course, but still would pull the plug on proper promotion and support.

Not many artists would have the balls to call these people out on their bullshit. Dee throws daggers at them right between the eyes.

His story is inspirational when hearing about the one thing that was constant through his up’s and down’s, that being the love for his wife and family. You get the sense that it truly is the most important factor that got him through it all. With a marriage to Suzette for 35 years+ and 3 very grounded sons and a daughter with their own strong talents, that may be the most rewarding acheivement in his life ... I somehow think he’d agree.

Friday, June 8, 2012

As the Alice Cooper summer tour kicks off today, it’s only fitting we have superstar guitar Ryan Roxie as our guest for a cool chat.He joins the Coop camp again and tells us what it was like for him when he did take a break a few years ago to focus more on family life. We’ll also hear him talk about his old days in Candy, on through to Dad’s Porno Mag, and may surprise you with one of the many bands he was once asked to join but ultimately skipped out on the audition.All this and of course we get caught up on the debut record that just came out from his other band called Casablanca. Which if you haven’t heard yet, go out and check it out, listeners of this podcast will not be disapointed. We bust him on the Blue Oyster Cult influence on the song “Rich Girl,” in which he chuckles “Its one of those things when you do that chord progression with the A minor down to F, G, it just so happens that they have the trademark on that. But we would’ve really gone over the top if we put some cowbell on it.”

Monday, June 4, 2012

It was a time machine back to the Sunset Strip glory days on Saturday night, June 2nd, 2012 when Blackboard Jungle & Swingin’ Thing reclaimed their throne as kings of Hollywood. Most of the fun was on the streets, just like when the bands would flyer from Gazzarri’s to the Whiskey, only this time it was hugs and hello’s being traded, sometimes odd seeing how everyone is older now and have changed.
You could over hear guys from Tryx reintroducing themselves to someone saying “do you remember Tryx, that was us, we were in that band.” Others were more recognisable, like Marc Torien, and Stevie Rachelle and Jamie St. James. Some had to choose where they wanted to rock, as Michael Monroe was doing his show at the Whiskey to a sold out crowd with a line around the que. Jimmy Thrill was there
hanging with his ol’ mate Taime. Kit Ashley from Big Bang Babies also paid respect to the Hanoi god.
Back to Blackboard, the guys were dirty and in your face from the get go. Holding the crowd’s attention from start til the end with their high energy punky cover of Dead Or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round.”
DJ Jamie Scrap supplied the jams in between sets and did a fine job hosting the nights event.
Swingin’ Thing followed, with their hip hop intro tape just like the old days, then straight into “Do You Feel Alright?” It was evident that the band took this gig seriously. They were tight and full of stage presense just like how we remembered them. The make-up was gone, but the style, attitude, and personality carried on.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Like back in the glory days when the stretch from Gazzarri's to The Whisky was littered with hairsprayed frolickin' rockers, 2 shows on the same night this summer in June is as close as we're gonna get to those yesteryears. Hey, Key Club...you wanna get in on this?

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Could SXSW 2012 possibly top itself from last year? Everytime it’s a spectacle... and for the music industry that’s still suffering, you wouldn’t know it judging from the attendance this year. It just goes to show that people do want to seek out new and exciting talent.

Highlights were BP Fallon’s performance at the Saxon Pub, Austin’s answer to The Troubadour. His opening number “I Believe In Elvis Presley” is a swaggering r ‘n r stomp that sticks with you from first listen. Joined onstage by Nigel Harrison on bass, and Aaron Lee Tasjan from Semi Precious Weapons as his back up band. Scott Asheton from the Stooges also got up for the last song, a cover of “Gloria.” This is where BP comes alive as a performer, letting his guard down. He often appears as the frail poet, which can be enchanting at times, but it’s even better to see him cut loose when he does, and only wish he did that more during his own material than on a Van Morrison tune.

The Biters return to South By with a handful of showcases. We caught them on their Friday night show at Rusty’s on East 7th. Just as expected, the band is fully energized, and rips into a brand new tune.

Tipping the hat to KISS with it’s title “Nighttime World.” Singer Tuk (pictured above) then notices familiar faces in the audience from it’s previous gig, and compares it to that of going back to a prostitute that must’ve felt real good. Their set only got better as it went on. Tuk takes off his guitar to jump into the audience to dance with a Biters fan. A strong asset the band has going for them is that they are a gang of brothers. When you see all 4 members in the same room together, there’s no denying that they are from the same band. But what we’ve noticed is, the crowd is also starting to look like the boys on stage, dressing up in their jean jackets and Mick Ronson hair-do’s, and when that happens, you know you’re doing something right.

Other notable showcase highlights was power popster Brendan Benson doing new songs from his forthcoming record “What Kind of World.”

Jonathan Daniel spoke at one of the day panels discussing all the elements involved in breaking a new act these days. He also reminisced about what he was thinking when Candy first came on to the scene. “We thought oh we’ll get a following, we’ll get a record deal and then we’ll be huge. What I realised after 4 record deals was that wasn’t the case. That’s how I actually started to become a manager. I was like oh I get it, you need to work, you need to do all these other things, and you need to perservere, and you need to hone your craft, and then if record deals and radio play come into play then it can get bigger & bigger, but getting a record deal should not be the goal.”

SX was not only about music. A slew of cool films were also making their debut at the festival. Although Keith Varady of Ruby Slippers may’ve been on track with the story of a transgender, director Jordan Roberts beats him to the punch with getting it to the big screen with Frankie Go Boom, in which Phyllis played by Ron Perlman makes this movie rise with it’s story about 2 brothers, one that has been humiliating the other most of his life by uploading embarrassing video footage of his brother online for all to see.

Jonas Akerlund returns to US screens with his latest film Small Apartments. Most known for his video work with Madonna, Metallica, and others, we caught up with Jonas to discuss the new project. No doubt about it, we did learn Jonas is a “rocker at heart.” Full interview coming soon on the next GB podcast.

Last of the film screenings was the documentary Sunset Strip, produced by Matt Sorum & Donovan Leitch (Nancy Boy, Camp Freddy).

Hollywood stars Johnny Depp, Keanu Reeves to Tommy Lee and Slash all get screen time declaring the fascination of the Sunset Strip. When I asked Kim Fowley (who makes several appearances in the film) about what the appeal of the strip and L.A. is, and why so many songs have been written about such, he replied “we don’t have a royal family in America, we have celebrities instead. Hollywood is the enchanted paradise, everyone aspires to it because Hollywood, California dictates technology, fashion, sin and everything else.”

In regard to what the Sunset Strip means today compared to the hair heyday, Matt Sorum tells me “it’s kinda become like a museum in a way because so much has happened in the past.” But sums it up more eloquently by saying “L.A.’s like a girl that you can’t figure out why you gotta keep going back to have seconds with her, she drives you fucking crazy, but she feels so good, so dirty,” he laughs.

Once again SX closes with a bang at Jimmy Quill’s Red Horse Ranch. The Pig Vicious food truck was on hand serving up BBQ goodness to the party crowd of rock ‘n rollers, artists, foodies, and Texas locals.

Vicky Hamilton’s new band The Art came all the way from Australia for their showcases and performance at Jimmy’s ranch.

Lengendary photographer Bob Gruen was on hand, and if you haven’t seen his New York Dolls book yet, pick it up... dressed in a pink satin hard cover, documenting killer shots from the vintage years.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Hearts on fire, it’s a Valentine’s day episode of Glambone. Bringing you an exclusive interview with Aeriel Stiles & Kery Doll from L.A.’s once upon a time star attraction, Doll.

You all know the myth, Kery jumping out of a casket, the cages, the flash bombs, Michael Hannon leaving the band, Doll’s repertoire being recorded by Pretty Boy Floyd, the lawsuits, and all that... now hear the legend. Straight from their mouths. Kery will tell ya what he felt about Pretty Boy Floyd, listen to the stories he spews about his other band projects from that time including Trust Jesus and Demolition Gore Galore. Hear about the stage antic that was way over the top. And the stuff you didn’t know, such as Kery once playing with C.C. DeVille, and auditioning for Lizzie Grey. It’s all here, as the band celebrates it’s new CD release “Rock N Roll Freak Show,” featuring classic Doll tunes and new material, Aeriel & Kery are back in biz. Download GB30 for free here

On a side note, those of you wanting to see Keith Varady’s movie Scabbo (of Ruby Slippers fame), as first heard about here on GB19 can now pay per view/order the film through Amazon.com Click here

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Glambone comes out of hibernation, the glitter chestnuts have been stored and ready for sharing. It’s a party in Hollywood, and just having a good time as we kick off the new year with an exclusive interview with lengendary L.A. veteran Lizzie Grey.

Listen as he recounts tales of the early days at the Starwood, and meeting Nikki Sixx for the first time, describing him as a John Waite look a-like with red spikey hair. In addition to all the heavy hitters Lizzie played with back when... “The Blackie project (London II) didn’t last long, maybe five or six months, nothing really came of it. It was another step of London slipping down another notch. And then when Blackie left London, whatever the reason, it wasn’t happening anymore. So that’s when things shifted, for me anyway. I said to Blackie ‘you’re great at being a monster, use your devil voice and do your best.’ He took my advice and Wasp was everything that was.”

Lizzie sums up his own career by saying “I gave it everything I had, and I still do.”